NORTON SHORES – So what exactly is a rivalry, anyway?

When you have two state power teams from schools a few miles apart, playing for a conference championship almost every year, does that qualify?

It depends on which coach you ask.

Shane Fairfield, the head coach of traditional power Muskegon, shrugs off the idea of the annual Muskegon-Mona Shores game being a rivalry. He respects Mona Shores and knows his team will be tested against a good Sailor squad on Friday, but says, “We don’t want to make this anything more than what is has to be.”

Matt Koziak, head coach of two-time state champion Mona Shores, disagrees. He says the annual matchup is very much a rivalry, and the type of traditional cross-town clash that makes high school football so much fun.

“One hundred percent,” Koziak said when asked if Muskegon is a rival. “I think it’s a great rivalry, and I think it’s cool.”

If the matchup is indeed a rivalry, it’s not a very old one.

Prior to 2013, when Mona Shores made the playoffs for the very first time, the Sailors were pretty bad in football, and in no way compared to the Big Reds.

Muskegon owns the all-time series, winning 32 of the 40 games that the teams have played over the years. The didn’t play at all between 2006 and 2012, and prior to 2014, the last time the Sailors beat the Big Reds was 1982, when they won 7-3.

Muskegon has the winningest football program in state history. Its record is dotted with mythical state championships prior to the playoff era, and the Big Reds won playoff state titles in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2017. They were state finalists in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2019.

Since 1985, the first year the Big Reds qualified for the playoffs, they have been in the postseason 29 times.

But Mona Shores has become a state power in recent years under Koziak, who spent one season at head coach at Muskegon before taking over the Sailors.

The Sailors have been in the playoffs seven of the past eight years, made the state finals in 2014 and 2018, and won Division 2 state championships in 2019 and 2020.

They’ve also given Muskegon a run for its money in the last decade, beating the Big Reds in 2014, 2015 and 2020.

That means there are now two big school state powers in Muskegon County that go head-to-head every year, frequently for a conference title, and always for bragging rights. The bleachers are always packed, and the games have an electric, playoff-like atmosphere.

Doesn’t that make it a modern rivalry?

Fairfield doesn’t care to put that label on the game.

“This does not come from arrogance at all, but we lead the series 32-8, and four of the last five games we’ve won,” Fairfield said. “I am excited for the two communities. I am excited for the people who work together and have family in both schools. But we’re going to treat it the same way (as other games).”

Fairfield said he’s happy that his Big Reds will get a major challenge on Friday, after three straight weeks of blowout victories and running clocks. Since sneaking past Zeeland West 28-20 in Week 3, Muskegon has beaten Grand Rapids Union 58-0, Wyoming 62-0 and Holland 58-0.

“I’m happy our kids will get to play in a playoff-like atmosphere on Friday,” Fairfield said. “That’s where the excitement comes from. It doesn’t matter if it’s Mona Shores.

“It will be good to play a team that’s 5-1 and is a two-time defending state champion. We want to be tested and we need to be tested. Our last three games were clearly one-sided. That’s nothing against anyone we’ve played. Every team we’ve played has won a few games. We hope Mona Shores brings its best game, and we’re sure they hope the same thing about us.

“But both teams are going to have a Monday after this game, and I think both staffs understand that.”

The two teams have a lot in common heading into Friday’s game. They are both 5-1, with their only blemishes being losses to Detroit powers in Week 2. Muskegon lost to Detroit Cass Tech 49-14 while Mona Shores lost to Detroit Martin Luther King 40-19.    .

Like Muskegon, the Sailors have been rolling since that rough week, beating Grand Rapids Union 56-26, Zeeland West 47-12, Zeeland East 49-30 and Reeths-Puffer 57-15. And like the Big Reds, Mona Shores is more than ready for a tough challenge from a great opponent.

Koziak thinks Muskegon is a great opponent, as well as an annual rival.

“We’re less than three miles apart from each other, and lots of the kids know each other,” he said. “Every kid should be able to play in a game like this. These are the games that make high school football great. It’s at our place this year, our fans are going to show up, and I’m sure they will have a great following.

“I love the fact that we get to have a rivalry like this. That’s what makes sports great, having true rivalries. Our practices the last few days have been really good. That’s not an insult to any other opponent, it’s more of a compliment to Muskegon. It’s different when you’re playing Muskegon. It just is. I love it.”